Ottawa defer place in Betfred League 1 until 2021
There will be no Betfred League 1 side based in Ottawa next season after the newly-relocated Hemel Stags were granted dispensation not to compete in 2020.
Earlier this year, Canadian Eric Perez was given permission to move the Stags to Ottawa, and they were set to take part in the third tier next season.
However, the RFL have confirmed that their entry into the league will be deferred until 2021, meaning that Betfred League 1 will operate as an 11-team division in 2020.
They could join the third tier alongside a New York franchise next season, taking the number of transatlantic sides in the English game to three.
The news comes after members of the consortium behind a New York-based bid were pictured taking in the action at Lamport Stadium as Toronto took on fellow promotion hopefuls Leigh.
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